Little Bird

Fascinum was my favorite of the new Ars Amatoria scents when I sniffed them in their imp vials. In the vial, this smells kind of like spicy cola and dry, slightly sharp cedar. Spicy and woodsy. On my skin at first, this goes a bit funky, with the amber throwing out a punch of baby powder and something turning momentarily sharp and bitter. It quickly mellows down though, and the sweet, spicy saffron is the dominating note for me. Saffron with a slight, dry woodiness underneath. I also keep catching hints of something that smells like lemon zest. Overall, this is a warm and spicy scent on me. It might even be a little too spicy for me, because it starts to give me a headachey feeling after a while, as my skin amps it into something cinnamon-like and overwhelming.

To Helen really surprised me the most out of the new Lupercalia blends. In the bottle, I get a strong, sticky-sweet sort of honey note, with a hint of tangy ozone and rose underneath. I suppose that the beeswax is giving off the honey note. It's a very deep & dark smelling honey fragrance. On my skin, it's much the same, dark honey and waxy, soft, creamy beeswax with hints of clean, almost perfumey ozone. Surprisingly, none of the floral comes out on my skin. I usually amp up bpal's amber into dust or powder as well, but I don't smell any amber in this either. This is pretty much beeswax and ozone on my skin, which is an intriguing sort of combination. It's creamy and sweet, and doesn't go sharp or powdery as I was expecting.

I love the artwork for this blend, and I'm so glad that I got a t-shirt and a bottle of the oil. I was a bit worried about the lemongrass and grapefruit, because I have trouble pulling off citrus and especially lemony notes. Cheshire Moon is really wonderful on my skin though. This starts off smelling a bit cake-like, as though a piece of poundcake were drizzled in syrup and citrus juice. In the drydown, the cherry blossom comes through more, and I love the lab's cherry blossom note. It's sweet and creamy on my skin. The citrus lingers in the background, but it never takes over the blend, just adds a hint of zesty sharpness. It almost smells like vanilla and cherry blossom on my skin after a while, which is lovely. It's sweet, surprisingly foodie-smelling on my skin, and fruity. I really like it

I thought that I would love The Passionate Shepherd, but he actually hasn't been a stand-out fragrance for me. First on, it actually smells a bit sharp and weedy, like some of the dandelion blends that I've tried from BPAL, with a familiar sweetness from the heather. For a bit after it has dried down, this smells exactly like Garden Path with Chickens on me. My boy said it smells like flowery potpourri. It's sweet florals with some clean herbal notes. After 15 minutes or so though, I start to hate this one. The florals take on an overly sweet smell on my skin after a while and the initial greenery completely disappears. It's sweet florals with a powdery edge that makes my eyes water a bit. I normally love tea rose, but the sweet tea rose plus the sweet heather is too much. The slight spiciness from the carnation and whatever is going powdery on my skin does make this seem a bit potpourri-esque, but it's so overly sweet and off that it also reminds me of rotting flowers. This one definitely isn't a keeper for me.

I'm on the fence about Frenum. It's gorgeous in the bottle, but not-so-good on me. In the bottle, this is just too beautiful. All of the gorgeous notes in Frenum mingle together to make me think of spring in Missouri where I grew up. I uncapped the bottle and instantly thought of wandering in a damp meadow after a spring rain. The white tea is smooth and refreshing, the cherry blossom lends a sweet floral touch, and the lettuce and cucumber add a bit of springy, cool greenery. It's like having spring wrapped up in a bottle. On me, though, something in this gets very sharp and unpleasant (and kinda soapy), drowning out the crisp green and sweet cherry blossom. In the bath water, it's a very faint bit of sharp, clean greenery. On my skin, this retains a sharp edge that actually starts giving me a headache after a while. The consistency is watery-thin, but it leaves my skin feeling ultra-soft and with a light sheen. I love that the bath oils don't feel oily or leave my skin feeling like an oil slick. I commented more on the texture and tub performance in my Castitas review, so I won't repeat myself. If this stayed as good as it smells initially in the bottle, I would be completely in love with it. As it is, I don't see myself repurchasing this scent, or even keeping my bottle.

I had to come back and edit this, because Gula has become my favorite of the bath oils. It's insanely sweet (mostly sugar with hints of honey & caramel, and sometimes I can smell the rich, fudgey cocoa as well). It smelled like plasticy chocolate scented markers when I first got it, but it has definitely improved with age. I never could smell the currants, though. This is way too sweet and cloying for me to just dump a ton of it into my bath or rub directly on to my dry skin, but I love pouring a bit of it over my legs and arms and rubbing it in while I'm in the bath or shower. It's a sweet pick-me-up and leaves my skin feeling very soft to the touch. When I get out of the bath, it's not so overwhelming (now that I use a small amount and rub it in while in the bath) & just leaves a hint of girly sweetness. My boy hates this when I first use it, but he loves the subtle scent that it leaves on my skin afterwards. Gula is lovely; it just needs to be used in small doses for me, lol.

I second the recommendation for Luperci. Luperci is my favorite fragrance of all time, and if you like sensual woodsy blends, it is *amazing.* It has the patchouli, woods, earthiness, and a sensual honeyed edge to it. Overall it's just such a well-blended scent. I love the Luperci... ETA: Voodoo also seems like it would fit what you're looking for.

I was excited to try this, since it has such lovely reviews, but Parsifal and I don't really get along. I don't get the 'citrus heaven' that others have mentioned. This goes on smelling like a sharp, white floral perfume and then morphs a bit into something like soapy dryer sheets and perfume on my skin. It's too sharp and too soapy-clean for my tastes...

I am in love with my TKO massage oil . I gripe a lot about bath products and such not being strongly scented, but this stuff definitely packs a punch. I think that it might actually be longer lasting on my skin than the TKO oil on its own, and it has fantastic throw without being overwhelming. It's also a bit more mellow than the usual TKO, sweet lavender and vanilla that smells like powdered sugar on my skin. It turns more towards a sweet vanilla with hints of sweet, soothing lavender after a while. It makes for the most relaxing massage ever. The boy gave me a massage with this last night and I just melted. I'd normally shower afterwards because the massage oils make my skin feel a little sticky, but I was loving the TKO smell too much to shower it off. I went to bed shortly after, slept well, and woke up with soft, still lightly scented skin. Verdict? Love it. It's great in 5 ml oil form, but it's even better when it can be slathered on. I may not get a massage with it every night, but I'll definitely use at least a few dabs of it before bed, if only just to get a bit of the soothing fragrance to help me unwind

I bought a bar of Perversion soap for my boy, since it's one of my favorite scents on him. I love the presentation of the bar; it's wrapped beautifully and looks beautiful (gray with scrubby flecks of black), but that's about as far as my love goes. I was really disappointed in the fragrance. I don't think that I would ever have made the connection that it was supposed to smell like "Perversion." It just has a generic soap smell, like any hotel room bar soap. It smells like soap. It has a light scrubbiness to it. My boy liked this well enough. It lathered well and he said he felt very clean afterwards. He was rather amused by the name, more than anything, lol. For me, this dried out my skin really badly, even worse than the other BPTP soaps I've tried. My skin still feels very tight, dry and unhappy after the shower, even after applying lotion several times. I think this is the worst my skin has ever felt, dryness-wise. These soaps just don't seem to agree with me

Castitas smells amazing. It has a tart, candied quality to it that makes me think of sweet tarts, if there were to be a vanilla musk flavored sweet tart. And there's a creaminess to it as well. Vanilla sweet tarts floating in sugared cream. It manages to be tart, sweet, creamy, and clean smelling all at the same time. The tartness *almost* makes me think of citrus or cherry candy, but it doesn't go quite that far. Oddly enough, the church where I grew up smelled exactly like this. I sniffed this bath oil and was instantly transported back to Sunday school, lol. Whatever pleasant, clean, comforting, air freshener thing they were using always smelled wonderful, and Castitas has that same smell The bath oil itself has the consistency of water. I love how quickly it disperses into the bath water, and it just makes the water a bit cloudy/milky in appearance. There are no pools of oil and the tub doesn't suddenly turn slick and dangerous. It's not something that I would describe as oily. It doesn't sit heavily on me or make water bead up on my skin. It just makes the water (and my skin) feel nice and soft. I use about an ounce of bath oil in my bath and it's wonderful and softening. Unfortunately, the scent still isn't very strong in the water, but it lingers lightly on my skin afterwards. I'd probably get 6-8 baths out of a bottle, since I like being able to smell the scent in the water. After using this in the bath, my skin feels amazingly soft to touch. My boy even commented that my skin felt softer. I don't necessarily feel really moisturized after using this (I still needed lotion for my arms, hands, knees, and feet), but my skin itself is so incredibly soft. It's definitely a great splurge to use when you want someone to want to touch you. I've also tried this in my hair, but my hair is too fine to pull it off. The smell is strong and amazing, but it makes my hair look greasy. Someone with thicker, less oily-prone hair would probably fair better. As a body moisturizer, I like this more than the massage oils. It's not sticky or tacky, but more slippery. It leaves a slip and shine on my skin that I really like for use on my legs. I can see myself slathering this on my legs this summer when the little skirts are back into rotation. Overall, I'm happy with this bath oil, though I wouldn't repurchase. I think I'll even set aside 5 or 10 mls in one of my empty perfume bottles and just wear it as a perfume every once in a while. This is the only bath oil so far that has been a keeper for me (didn't care for Gula at all and Frenum turned rather sharp and headache inducing on me). I have to use so much of it in the bath to get a hint of fragrance, so I'll probably just save the last half of my bottle as a moisturizer/leg sheen product. ETA: The bath oil seems to keep leaking out of my bottle of this and the oil ate off the bottle's pretty label. Every day there's a ring of leaky oil wherever I left the bottle (ate away a weird mark on our wooden cabinet ). For the price, I won't purchase any more of these, but I'll decant the rest of my Castitas into a new bottle, store it somewhere that it can't do any damage, and use it up as a leg moisturizer this summer... ETAA: I recently tried some Possets, and Castitas Bath Oil smells almost exactly like the Madame X Posset to me.

I picked Terrae as my first massage oil purchase because I love woodsy scents. There's something about this scent that I really don't like though. Perhaps it's the clary sage, but something smells high pitched, medicinal, and menthol-like in the bottle and on my skin. My boy said it smelled like "manly potpourri," whatever that means, lol, then said it smelled more like "manly pine" when it had settled on my skin a bit. I have mixed feelings about the scent. I like the earthy/woodsy/resinous part of it, but there's a lingering quality to it that I strongly dislike as well. The good part of this reminds me of Pulcinella & Teresina. It has a similar smell of peppered, rich woods and thick, sweet resins. Every once in a while, I also smelled something that reminded me of dry cedar chips. I find that pleasant enough. The bad part of this is the menthol, herbal sharpness that seems to cut awkwardly through the otherwise fantastic fragrance. It's almost like a rich woodsy/resinous blend with some Jabberwocky thrown in. The texture of this is really lovely for a massage. It's not too oily and slippery, managing to sink into the skin quite a bit. It doesn't make a mess, which I appreciate, lol. I thought that I might use this as a lotion/moisturizer to layer with some of my favorite woodsy/resin blends, but it's a little too sticky for me. I'm very picky about moisturizers, a lot of them actually make me feel dry and I can't stand the feel of something that is at all sticky or tacky. The massage oils do feel moisturizing to me, but there's a little stickiness that sits on my skin as well. I wound up having to take a shower after my boy gave me a massage with this. Bonus is that my skin did feel heavenly after the shower, soft and moisturized, and the unpleasant smell went away. Overall... I don't think that Terrae is a keeper for me. That medicinal, herbal sharpness is too much for me to handle. I don't like these as a lotion either, but they do make for a fantastic massage, and I love how soft my skin felt when I showered after using this

This isn't quite the complex foodie-citrus blend that I was hoping for, but I still really love it . It only lasts about an hour on my skin though, so I wish the staying power was better. Still, it's a cheery sort of scent, and I don't mind re-applying. I love it when it's first on, smelling like lemon sugar and vanilla. As it dries down, I get more of a zingy citrus bite and sweet fruitiness with the vanilla. I can't pick out any pepper, ginger, or lily, though I'm hoping that I'll be able to smell those notes if I age this a bit more...

I really enjoy this scent and its progression. Starts off with a sweet, deep, resinous amber and myrrh paired with creamy, green melon and lemonbalm. The green aspect smells grassy and soft, like laying in a green meadow on soft meadow grasses. As it dries down, the dragon's blood comes in and it's the beautiful, glowing red, incensey kind of dragon's blood (not the watery floral type in a lot of the Lab's Ars Draconis scents) paired with smoky leather and just enough warmth from the cinnamon and clove. The spices are well behaved and enhance the blend rather than taking over. The bit of fruity freshness stays in the undercurrent as well and this is just such a strange, complex, but beautifully haunting blend. It reminds me of something that would be in Mugler's collection of Alien flannkers. Unusual, but still has a classic perfume feel, and so unique and complex.

I love the Cheshire Moon art tis why I ordered the shirt and got in on a partial bottle from a decant group, lol.

The House is a rather sour scent on my skin, and it reminded me a lot of a more floral Bayou, with a light sprinkling of dirt. The moss gives a sour, humid/damp, warm sort of impression that I actually like, though I do find it difficult to wear. It smells swampy. I also get an impression of musty, damp woods. There's a soft sprinkling (almost dusty on my skin) of earth note that stays lightly in the background. Over time, I get more rose. It's a bit perfumey and bold, but it does go a little sour on my skin, perhaps thanks to the other notes. Overall, I'd say that this is a swampy rose. It always smells a bit damp and sour on me. I appreciate these sorts of blends, but I don't think I'd wear this much.

Madeline is my definite favorite of the retail exclusive Poes. I like the white rose note quite a bit. I also tend to love ivy notes. Earth notes are iffy, but I do like them when mixed with the right floral note and greenery. Madeline is a really great mix of rose, green, and a touch of earth on me. The white rose note goes rather sweet on my skin, like tea rose. The ivy seems to add a lively dark green impression. The blend surprises me in that it's a cool sort of smell, and almost a bit damp smelling on me, like crushed stems. I briefly get a bit of a musty woods and earth note from this, but it's mostly a light rose scent on me. Very pretty. I'm not sure if it's full bottle material (Parlement of Foules remains my ultimate white rose blend), but I'm keeping my decant.

I was really looking forward to trying Rozpustnica, as I imagined a moonflower, rose, and blue musk blend. I tend to amp up and hate lemon verbena though, and it's crazy strong in this blend. I can't even pick out any rose or moonflower, which surprised me. The sharp lemon really smothers the other notes on my skin, finally letting a bit of the muskiness out to play after a half hour or so. The drydown is sharp lemons and a clean sort of musk, going off a bit towards being outright soapy smelling. After an hour, I do smell a bit of rose, but it smells a bit sour to me, and I don't like it mixed with the sharp lemon. Overall, it's much too clean and too sharply citrussy for my tastes.

In the bottle and on my skin, this falls somewhere between grape flavored bubble gum and grape cough syrup (blech). As it dries down, it's sort of an artificial grape popsicle + a hint of cough syrup. Wine, amber, plum, champaca and white musk sounded all sorts of sexy, but this is all artificial grape smell on me. Turns a little powdery after about 15 minutes, and has disappeared entirely by the half hour mark.

I received a generous sample of Aeris from a generous swapper . The scent of this is really pretty, though I probably will try another fragrance when I go to purchase a full bottle of massage oil. Aeris is a bit too citrussy for me, especially when it's first on. Sweetgrass as a note itself smells a bit lemony on me before morphing into more of a meadow scent, so I get a bit of sharpness with the sweetgrass, verbena, and grapefruit combined at first. On the skin after 10 minutes or so, the lemony sharpness calms down and this mellows into a soft floral lavender. The citrus becomes less sharp, more of a soft orange blossom. The softer notes mingle with a grassy, herbal sort of twist. Mostly I would say that this is a clean, herbal scent when it's rubbed into my skin. Clean meadow of wildflowers, herbs, and lavender? A pretty, light scent on me. I like the texture of this too, from what I could tell with my sample. The oil sinks in rather quickly on my legs. I think that I'll repurchase, but probably in a different fragrance.

Something in Judith and Holofernes goes powdery on my skin, and I'm not sure what note it is. Perhaps it's the sandalwood, but BPAL's sandalwood doesn't usually turn to baby powder on me. The honey does its odd thing, smelling almost metallic and sour on me for a bit, before settling into a soft, tangy sweetness. I can smell the earthiness of patchouli in the vial, but no patchouli once the oil is on my skin. The skin musk smells like something of a sharper white musk, and I do like that note. In the drydown, this is sultry skin musk, a hint of honey, and a hint of spicy carnation over a base of baby powder. It's subtle on me, on the warmer side of things, and it has a nice hint of sweetness. It's probably too powdery to be a keeper for me though. After an hour on my skin, I can't pick out any notes and am left with a musky, slightly sweet baby powder.

I love Old Moon as a room scent, and my boy acted like it was the best room fragrance evah, lol. It's cold and foresty. I smell the juniper and evergreen most strongly, and I don't think I could ever pull off juniper as a personal scent. It has an almost spearminty crispness to its greenery. To my nose, Old Moon is a bit snowy and minty, but mostly a strong juniper and evergreen. I like a softer pine note for perfume, but this is a great home scent. Very crisp and pretty.

Blood Phoenix wound up being very sweet on my skin. First on, I get a blast of scary almond that smells like hyper-sweet, boozy cherries. Underneath the almond I can pick out hints of the very warm, smooth red musk. I love the lab's red musk, but the almond makes it too sweet and too red. Over time, the almond manages to calm itself down and then the wine grape and dragon's blood surge forward. Dragon's blood often takes on an odd & specific smell on my skin, a smell of sickly-sweet, rotting flowers in a pool of stale water in a forgotten vase. Wine notes often smell like bitter, rotting fruits on my skin, but the grape note here actually smells more like sweet bubble gum (grape bubble tape?). It's floral in a cloying-sweet way and grapey in an artificial way. Overall, Blood Phoenix just goes too sickly sweet with my skin chemistry. It starts off with a strong boozy-cherry-almond and dries down to smell like rotting flowers and grape bubble tape. The undertone of smooth red musk keeps it interesting for me, but I probably won't ever wear this one. I do like the red and purple picture that it paints though. I'll probably keep around my decant for aging, because the reviews on this one are so varied and I'd like to get the incense that others have mentioned

This has a traditional floral scent on me, without smelling cheap or insanely sharp. It's still a bit sharp going on, but it doesn't give me that overwhelming department store perfoom feeling. The Oval Portrait is a bit musky on me, in a cool and powdery sort of way. Sweet florals, a touch of almost citrussy sharpness from somewhere, and a base of powdery musk. This strikes me as a very dry smelling blend. I'm especially bad at describing floral scents, and the best my mind can come up with here is that this smells like a very adult blend of powdery, musk-touched florals. It's not as sweet or natural smelling as I like my flowery blends to be. It loses it's odd citrus twang and some sharpness after a while, which I appreciate. I don't love this, but I also don't hate it...

This starts off as a white-floral-mess on my skin. Sharp and chemical smelling. In the drydown, the lavender and perhaps the sugar cane try to come in and do damage control, and this sweetens up quite a bit. I think that I can smell a powdery, grounding sort of sandalwood here as well. White Phoenix winds up smelling of sharp white flowers & musk, softened by a sweeter lavender, laying on a powdery base. It's definitely not my sort of fragrance, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be either.